When Lawrence High’s girls basketball players took the floor at Allen Fieldhouse last season, they were thrown off a little bit by the larger court and it took a little while to adjust on offense.

Returning to Allen Fieldhouse to play Free State for another chapter of the City Showdown at 6 p.m. Friday, players from both teams believe they are much more prepared.

The two schools will only play once this season because of the addition of Gardner-Edgerton and Olathe West in the Sunflower League — taking away two games from the non-conference slate.

“Everyone was just nervous,” LHS senior guard Tyrin Cosey said. “It’s a big place. Just to have the feeling of that many people around is pretty cool.”

The Lions (3-0, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A) have only allowed an average of 33.3 points in their first three games — all double-digit victories.

Lawrence returned several members of its varsity rotation from last season, including starters E’lease Stafford, Chisom Ajekwu and Hannah Stewart. Winning the last four City Showdowns, the Lions try not to get too hyped for the rivalry game.

“I know it’s cliché but we don’t prepare for them any differently than we do anybody else,” Lawrence coach Jeff Dickson said. “Everything we do is about what we need to do.”

Beyond the dimensions on the court, the Lions said the biggest difference in their rivalry game is how much they feed off of the crowds. Dickson said he notices players’ tiring after only a couple of minutes because of the adrenaline.

“I think it’s always fun to play against Free State, not only because of the competition and stuff, but you can see everyone get together to watch us play,” LHS senior wing Asia Goodwin said. “Like it’s so packed that we get to have it at Allen Fieldhouse. I think that’s really cool.”

When Free State sophomore forward Haley Hippe looks back at last year’s City Showdown, the thing she remembers most was the crowd and student sections on opposite ends.

The Firebirds (0-4) lost all three of their games in the Olathe East tournament last week. That included a five-point overtime loss to Blue Valley Southwest.

“It’s good to have the whole week to practice. It’s good to take a deep breath after three games in a week, which really for us I thought was good,” Free State coach Ted Juneau said. “We didn’t have great results but we got better.”

The Firebirds only have one senior, Erin Cushing, and they’ve had to work on defining roles through the first four games.

“I think we need to stay focused,” Hippe said. “I know that as a team we’re capable of doing it. We just need to work together and focus and get it together.”

Juneau said the Lions are “no doubt” the best team they will play at this point in the season, but he’s confident his team will be more than ready to play — even in front of a huge crowd.

“If you can’t get up for this one,” Juneau said, “you might as well hang it up.”